Megaworld raises Uptown Bonifacio investment

Megaworld Corp. has increased its 20-year investment plan for mixed-use estate Uptown Bonifacio to P65 billion, citing the strong demand for property in the Bonifacio Global City.

Megaworld, led by real estate tycoon Andrew Tan, originally budgeted  P45 billion to develop the 15-hectare Uptown Bonifacio, a joint venture with the state-owned Bases Conversion Development Corp.

This project is centrally located in the northern district of Fort Bonifacio, extending all the way to Kalayaan Avenue and near the British, Japanese and American international schools.

“Uptown Bonifacio, touted as the newest business district in the Philippines, will take Megaworld’s renowned live-work-play lifestyle to new heights,” Megaworld senior vice president for marketing Noli Hernandez said in a statement.

Uptown Bonifacio will feature up to 18 towers, offering a total potential development of 500,000 square meters of residential space, 400,000 sqm of office space and 90,000 sqm of retail space.

With the company’s “well-planned” offerings, Hernandez expressed confidence that Uptown Bonifacio would be “the new place to be in the next few years.”

The 45-story Uptown Ritz Residence, Megaworld’s first-ever “ultra-luxurious, all-suites condominium project” in the township, is valued at P8 billion. Its suites will come in two- to four-bedroom layouts. With only 10 units per residential floor, it seeks to offer exclusivity and privacy for future residents. Recreational facilities for the project include Uptown Place, Megaworld’s upscale three-level retail complex next door.

Sales for Uptown Ritz have been brisk, according to Hernandez. “We have never experienced such tremendous optimism in the real estate market in the last 15 years.”

Aside from retail attractions, Uptown Bonifacio hosts a P12-billion, 140,000-sqm corporate block with four towers on Megaworld Avenue, the district’s main avenue.

This corporate block will be constructed under the Berde (Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence) rating system.

Its office buildings will showcase cutting-edge architecture, double-glaze glass walls, sky gardens and a lagoon.—Doris C. Dumlao